The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Fast turnaround on the Murdaugh trial

by Cate Martel and Elizabeth Crisp - 03/03/23 1:11 PM ET

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–> A midday take on what’s happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.*

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha–breaks down crying hysterically.

NEWS OF THE MORNING

Alex Murdaugh has been sentenced:

“Disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for the June 2021 murders of his wife and son.”

That was a fast turnaround: Murdaugh was found guilty yesterday after just a few hours of jury deliberation.

^ How fast exactly?: A juror told ABC News’s “Good Morning America” that the jury only needed 45 minutes to reach a verdict.

Quick primer on the case: “The life sentence culminates Alex Murdaugh’s stunning fall from grace over the last two years. Murdaugh came from a prominent South Carolina family of lawyers, several of which served as top prosecutors in the area. The investigations into the deaths of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh began when Alex Murdaugh called the police on June 7, 2021, claiming that he found his wife and son dead after returning home from a visit with his mother. Over a year later, Murdaugh was charged with the murders. Prosecutors argued at trial that Murdaugh committed the murders to distract from his financial crimes, while the defense criticized investigators’ handling of the crime scene and the lack of physical evidence.”

What we know about the case

‘5 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE MURDAUGH MURDERS TRIAL’:
From The New York Times’s Ben Shpigel and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs

‘BUSTER MURDAUGH SEEN WIPING TEARS AS GUILTY VERDICT FOR HIS FATHER WAS READ’:
From CNN’s Randi Kaye

‘A MURDAUGH FAMILY DEATH IN 1940 WAS ALSO SUSPICIOUS — AND EERILY SIMILAR’:
From The Washington Post’s Gillian Brockell

It’s Friday — we made it! I’m Cate Martel with Liz Crisp with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.

NEWS THIS MORNING

President Biden said he won’t veto D.C. crime bill:

President Biden won’t veto GOP-backed legislation that would undo parts of a D.C. crime bill, despite his stated support for the District’s independence.

The Hill’s Brett Samuels and Alex Gangitano have more details.

⚖️ The 2020 election

Fox News should be a little nervous…:

“Fox News and its parent company face serious threats to their financial and reputational health from a blockbuster defamation lawsuit tied to coverage of the 2020 election that legal experts believe has a solid chance of succeeding.”

The situation if you haven’t been following this story: “Dominion Voting Systems, which brought the $1.6 billion suit, is a voting technology provider that argues Fox News defamed it by knowingly repeating falsehoods from former President Trump and his aides and allies that Dominion’s services were used to fraudulently elect Joe Biden to the White House.”

Why legal experts think Fox should be nervous: Some of the depositions and internal communications taken as part of the discovery process.

The Hill’s Dominick Mastrangelo explains the case and where Fox News stands

🗓️ THIS WEEKEND

Trump takes CPAC:

Former President Trump is scheduled to speak at CPAC in National Harbor, Md., at 5:25 p.m. Saturday.

🏡 In other news

Nothing feels affordable anymore for most:
The Hill’s Adam Barnes reports that “fewer than a quarter of homes listed for sale nationwide qualified as affordable for the typical U.S. household, according to a new report shared exclusively with The Hill.”

What defines a house as affordable by this metric?: “Redfin analyzed home listings in the nation’s 100 most populous metros, marking a listing as affordable if its estimated monthly mortgage payment did not exceed 30 percent of the local county’s median income.”

^ And so how many are considered affordable?: “The report, released Friday by real estate brokerage Redfin, found that the number of affordable listings in 2022 fell by more than half from the previous year — the largest annual drop on the company’s record dating back to 2013.”

More data from the report

‘Suicide attempts highlight mental health concerns in immigrant detention’:

The Hill’s Rafael Bernal reports that “a series of suicide attempts reported by detainees and officials at a single New Mexico immigration detention facility are underscoring concerns about mental health treatment outcomes in the system.”

The full story — it’s worth reading

🦠 The COVID-19 numbers

Cases to date: 103.4 million

Death toll: 1,117,856

Current hospitalizations: 20,316

Shots administered: 672 million

Fully vaccinated: 69.3 percent of Americans

CDC data here.

🐥 NOTABLE TWEETS

Hitting the Inner Harbor, hon:

Is Baltimore one of the most desirable locations in America?

MTG riles up the CPAC crowd:

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) got the CPAC audience to boo Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

I’ll have the same thing he’s having:

The Bidens have created a debate over dining habits. Should you order the same dish as your dining partner, much less your spouse?

⏱On tap

The House and Senate are out. President Biden is in Washington, D.C.

9:30 a.m.: Biden received his daily briefing.
2 p.m.: Biden holds a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
3:45 p.m.: Biden leaves for Delaware because IT’S THE WEEKEND!

All times Eastern.

📺What to watch

Today: The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md. Livestream
11:30 a.m.: Biden awarded the Medal of Honor to a Vietnam War veteran.Watch
12:45 p.m.: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gives a press briefing. Livestream
5:25 p.m. Saturday: Former President Trump speaks at CPAC. Livestream
Sunday morning: Reps. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and Jim Himes (D-Conn.) will appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”